When Andy Murray looks across the net at Alexander Zverev here on Tuesday he will see about two stones of extra muscle that has been packed on to the German teenager’s lean superstructure over the past year, the expert handiwork of his own one-time conditioner Jez Green.

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As Murray points out, Zverev’s 6ft 6in frame differs markedly from his own as does his tennis, although the challenge he faces to survive the first round of the 2016 Australian Open will be powered by the 18-year-old’s feared serving arm.

Zverev is maturing quickly – on the court, where he owns a world ranking of 83, and in the gym.

“He is a completely different athlete from me, different build,” Murray said. “I would imagine the training Jez is doing with him is completely different too. Jez is experienced working with a young player coming through, with me – and that can help.

“Any time you have been through that with another player you can learn from mistakes that we might have made. Also you can learn from the things that worked positively.

“I think he is still growing, it seems that way anyway. He is a big boy and I don’t think it is an easy job to be his physical trainer in that situation.”

Zverev said: “Jez is one of the best physical trainers in tennis, if not the best. He did an unbelievable job with Andy, who was quite skinny as well when he was 17-18.

“He was physically not the best but now he is probably the best tennis athlete in the sport. I think so and many people see it that way. He is probably the strongest and the fittest.”

The two players met this month in the Hopman Cup in Perth and Murray’s experience told in a one-sided match, as Zverev concedes. “He played pretty well against me and I didn’t play that well. But obviously it is something different to play against the No2 in the world from what I am used to. It is going to be a doubly different match because this is best of five. This is a grand slam.”

He is no stranger to the big occasion, though, having won the junior boys’ title here two years ago after reaching the French final in 2013 – the year Murray won Wimbledon.

Murray’s world has changed markedly since then and for the first time he enters a new season as No2 in the world. He also brings with him the plaudits of a nation after winning the BBC’s Personality of the Year award, not to mention the Davis Cup after Great Britain’s first success in that competition for 79 years.

He would love to use that energy and confidence to win here after four finals but, although he has yet to win the title, he rarely plays poorly in Melbourne.

“It is a tournament I would love to win. I don’t deserve to win it more than any other tournament. I do feel that this is the slam where I have consistently played my best tennis over the years,” Murray said. “In a lot of the matches that I have lost here I have also played some really good tennis. I haven’t often played a bad match here.

“At the time, when I lost to him in the first round, it was seen as being a really bad loss but 10 days later he played great and I almost won both of those matches; they were close.

“However, I’m going to need to do something a little bit special here if I want to win it.”

Such as unseat the best player in the world, Novak Djokovic. The phenomenal Serb begins the defence of his title against the exciting young Korean Hyeon Chung, and expectations are naturally immense after his three-slam season in 2015.

“It was the best season and best year of my life, undoubtedly,” said Djokovic, who also became a father for the first time. “I enjoyed every moment spent on the court. But I’m here to start from the very beginning, to start from the scratch, and see where it takes me.”

It will probably take him smoothly past 19-year-old Chung, who has risen to 51 in the ATP world rankings, towards Ivan Dodig in the second round, perhaps 28th seed Andreas Seppi, Gilles Simon (14) and Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals. Roger Federer is his likely semi-final opponent; maybe Murray will be waiting for him again in the final.

Djokovic added: “Every time I go back to Rod Laver Arena, I have these memories come back to me from the first win back in 2008 and some of the epic matches I’ve played on that court.” One more Australian title will draw him level with Roy Emerson and put him two clear of Federer. It is likely the latter statistic that will appeal to him more.